Visiting Dilly
by Even a tango
Summary: A sort of spin-off from Little Things Mean a Lot, based on a prompt asking for the nurses Delia worked with in Wales to come and visit London. Pretty silly, pretty short. Only makes sense if you've read LTMAL as it's based around OCs as well as Patsy and Delia (sorry).
1. Chapter 1

AN: I didn't really expect this to see the light of day again, but apparently at least one person remembers it from Tumblr and has requested I put it up. So this is a short, light hearted bit of nonsense based on a fic prompt of Winnie and Nerys coming to London to visit Delia after the end of Little Things Mean a Lot. It will only mean anything if you've read that I'm afraid! If you like it let me know and I'll post the other chapter too, otherwise we can leave it here! :)

* * *

'I'm home! Sorry I'm so late, I couldn't get away. You'll never believe the conversation I just had with Mrs Chirrish on my way back. Honestly, you'd think she was doing us the biggest favour allowing us to help her with her pregnancy the way she goes on. I've half a mind to- Delia? Sweetheart what on Earth's the matter? You look as though you've just seen a ghost'.

'Oh Pats it's awful. I don't know what we're going to do. I really don't see how we can get out of it'.

'Out of what? Do tell me what's going on Delia, it can't be as bad as all that'.

'It's... I got this letter through today and... well, I think you'd better read it for yourself'.

…

 _Darling Dilly,_

 _I can't believe you're already gone! Neenaw and I are simply inconsolable, it isn't at all the same here without our Daffadown Dilly! It seems only days ago that Sister Davies told us you'd accepted a place at The London and were to be transferring within the month, but now you're actually_ gone! _I suppose you must be arriving at your brand new flat even as I'm writing this, and saying hello to the girl you're boarding with. I do hope you'll get along and that she will be sweet to you. I wonder if the two of you will become twinsies like Neenaw and I? I hope so because I tell you Dilly, if you find a best friend like that there is no need for boyfriends at all. I think most of us would be happier with a really good girl friend than a steady chap, don't you? Boys are just so noisy and make all sorts of strange smells! (Neenaw's brothers are bad enough when they come to visit, I'd hate to actually_ live _with a boy!). Oh but isn't this girl the one you went to the seaside with? Patty is it? So I'm sure you are already the best of friends. Have you given each other nicknames yet? Did you tell her yours is Dilly? I'm sure she won't mind yout keeping it and I don't mind at all if she shares it – as your new roomy she's almost one of us now after all!_

 _It must help to know someone, and I suppose you did used to live there, but I can hardly believe that you've really gone all the way to London. I don't know how you're not scared to go so far. But of course I am mad with jealously that you're going to walk the very same London streets where Christopher Robin played 'not walking on the cracks' (because hundreds of bears are waiting to eat the sillies who walk on the lines of the street, so watch out Dilly!). And you'll get to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and gosh just imagine seeing Big Ben and Westminster every day, it's all so grand!_

 _Speaking of our dear friend Christopher Robin and the bears, my little Daffy Bear (the one you gave me Dilly darling, do you remember? I named her in remembrance of you and your daffodil dress) is sitting happily on my pillow next to Pinky (my cuddly poodle) and they are already great friends. I only wish I had a cuddly friend to send you to remember me by now you're off in the big city! But perhaps we can do one better than that after all. Neenaw and I have some leave coming up and we were saying just last week how we'd love to spend it exploring London. We thought we wouldn't be able to (because it's so far away and so big and we didn't like to try and find a respectable sort of boarding house without knowing anything about it first), but then Neenaw reminded me that of course, we didn't_ need _to find a guest house because who was in London but our very own sweet Dilly? So how about it sweetie-pea? Might we come and stay? Not for a few weeks of course, I know you'll need time to settle in to your new home, but we simply can't_ wait _to see you again and hear all about your life there, and of course we'd just love to meet our soon to be good chum Patty! Just think of all the fun the four of us could have together! Let us know which days would be best for us to come and we'll arrange it with Sister Davies right away. You mustn't worry about space if your flat is small, Neenaw and I are happy to share a bed, it will be like camping!_

 _Lots and lots of love_

 _Pooh Bear_

 _xxxxxxxxxxxx_

…

'...Patsy? You've been quiet ever such a long time. Please say something'.

'Oh _Delia_ , how could you?'

'I know it's not ideal, but I didn't actually _invite_ them. You can see, she's just sort of invited-'

'Not THAT. I mean how _could_ you? All this time I thought we were so close, and now I find out!'

'What? We _ARE._ Oh Patsy whatever do you mean? Find out what? You've gone bright red. What have I done?'

'It's what you _haven't_ done! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVEN'T GIVEN ME A NICKNAME YET! I FEEL SO BETRAYED DILLY!'

'You rotten creature Patience Mount, I really thought you were angry with me!

...Oh look you'd better stop laughing and help me answer it properly.

... _Patsy_. I mean it!'

'But... but D-Dilly... it's just. Oh it's just so perfect. Oh goodness that has made my morning, I can't breath!'

'You'd better stop that right this minute and help me work out a way to let them down gently or I shall make you personally escort the pair of them all round London by yourself, and then you WILL get your nickname!'

'You wouldn't'.

'I might. How does this sound? "Dear Pooh Bear, I'm afraid I will be working all weekend as the hospital is quite overstretched at the moment, but my darling roomie PeePee would be delighted to show you the sights of London! Please stay as long as you like as she is absolutely dying to spend lots and lots of time with you. Love Dilly, xxx"'

' _Delia!_ You promised _never_ to refer to me as PeePee! We had a deal!'

'Yes, well, that was before you were so utterly unhelpful in dealing with this catastrophe. And if you don't help now you will have to endure it all politely because as exasperating as they are I won't have you hurt their feelings with your sharp tongue!'

'Yes, alright, I surrender! No more laughter I promise. Just... give me a moment to catch my breath'.

'Alright, let me see the letter again. Goodness I half feel as though they must be pulling your leg a bit. They can't be for real!'

'You say that because you haven't met them. They are absolutely for real and don't seem to realize that other people don't think the way they do. They really are sweet girls and can even be quite good fun in small doses, but I don't know how I'd cope with a few days of their company without respite, and as for _you_. Well, I'm afraid one way or another having the three of you in close proximity would end in tears'.

'You really think I'd be cruel to them? They're you're friends Delia, and I know how to behave. I'm not such a monster as all that am I?'

'I think it can be very hard _not_ to be cruel to them. Or at least to get a little short tempered, which they take to heart and view as cruelty. Don't you remember them falling out with me simply because I snapped at Winnie when I was upset? It isn't _you_ being unreasonable that I'm afraid of. Besides, this is your home too Pats, and I want it always to be somewhere you look forward to returning to, not somewhere you feel trapped by unrelenting visitors'.

'Even so, I really don't think we can say no without causing a great deal of offence and upset, especially if they are as sensitive as you say. Perhaps if they realize the reality of the East End they won't be quite so keen to come? Winnie seems to think you're living in Knightsbridge the way she talks about London'.

'I suppose that might work'.

'There we are then. And if not... well, we will make the best of it'.

'Really?'

'Really. But I have to warn you if they call me PeePee I will not be responsible for whatever tantrums ensue, because I _**will**_ be correcting them. I love you Delia, but that is a step too far'.

'Understood'.

'Right then. Cup of tea? I'm quite parched and you look as though you could do with one after all this trauma! Then we'll sit down together and come up with some truly shocking East End horror stories to send back to the Hundred Acre Wood'.

'Please'.


	2. Chapter 2

'Ready?'

'Not really'.

'Oh come on Patsy, you can't get cold feet now! Look, Delia's already waiting'.

'Yes... but she hasn't seen us yet. It was frightfully good of you to come along for moral support Trixie but there's still time to slip away'.

'No Patsy, you've made your bed and now you have to lie in it. If you didn't want this you shouldn't have said yes to Delia in the first place, but you did. So now it's time to walk up there and smile as if it was the happiest day of your life'.

'Oh I know _I_ can't leave, I have to do right by Delia. After everything that's happened I can't leave her alone now. I wouldn't. I meant you! You needn't take part in this charade, you could just-'

 **'** _ **Cooooeeeeeee!**_ **'**

'Rats. Too late.'

...

'DILLY DARLING! Oh you simply wouldn't _believe_ the journey!'

'DillyDillyDillyDilly! _There_ you are! I was afraid we'd never find you in this crowd! Group hugs hello!'

'Hello Nerys, hello Winnie. How lovely that you made it!'

'Sooooooo, where is she then? Your lovely Patty who we've heard so much about! We've been just _dy_ ing to meet her, haven't we Neenaw?'

'We were just saying on the train how lovely it was that Dilly had a twinsie just like us!'

'Is she awfully shy and hiding from us Dilly? Ought we to play hide and seek with her along the platform? I hope you told her we aren't the least _bit_ frightening'.

'Oooh hide and seek sounds like fun! Do you suppose we still need to count if Patty's already hiding?'

'There's _really_ no need for that. Patsy will be meeting us here any moment, I expect she's just been held up somewhere on the way. I'm quite certain she _isn't_ hiding'.

...

'Oh come on, there's no getting away from it. Let's go and rescue Delia from that group hug, she's beginning to look a little blue around the lips'.

'Trust _you_ to be looking at her lips'.

'What did you just say?'

'Me? Nothing at all! I must admit though, they aren't _quite_ how I imagined Delia's friends would be'.

'I did try to warn you off. _You're_ the one who insisted this would be nice, like us meeting each other's families'.

'Yes, well... I am beginning to suspect I might have been wrong about that'.

'Just keep smiling whatever they say. I'll buy you a pack of cigarettes and as many aspirin as it takes to get over this particular headache when it's all over'.

...

 _ **'Ooh look at her new shoesies! Aren't they sweeeet?'**_

...

'And tickets to the cinema. And a box of chocolates to take with you. Have I mentioned how much I appreciate this?'

'I rather think you might need to Patsy. Alright. In we go'.

'Delia! Over here!'

'Oh thank goodness! I mean... thank goodness you made it before the next train let out. It really is very crowded in here, we'd never have found you otherwise. Patsy, this is Winnie and this is Nerys. Winnie, Nerys, this is my flat mate and good friend Patsy, and our friend Trixie. She's another of the Nonnatus House midwives, just like Patsy'.

'Delighted to meet you both, Delia has told me so much about you and how welcome you made her feel at the cottage hospital'.

'Ooh how formal! We're practically family now! I think this calls for another group hug with _all_ of us don't you Pooh Bear?'

'Of _course_ we must. And I'm afraid Dilly got the introductions _quite_ wrong. _Did_ n't you Dilly? That's why she's a silly-billy-Dilly, she's always so shy about our special names! But I'm sure _you_ won't be shy with us will you new friends Patsy-and-Trixie? So let's introduce ourselves again and then we can have a big proper friends hug. _I'm_ Pooh-Bear, and this lover-ly girl here is Neenaw! And you are?'

'Sorry, I thought Delia already said. I'm Trixie. It's short for Beatrix Franklin if that's what you meant. But people call me Trixie. This is Patsy. I'm afraid we don't have... _special_... names. Just Trixie and Patsy. We've always found them to be perfectly sufficient'.

'Oh but your name is _Beatrix!_ Like Beatrix Potter! How perfectly lovely! Lets see, you could be Puddle-duck, or Flopsy Bunny, or maybe Miss Moppet? I think maybe Flopsy. What do you think Pooh Bear?'

'I think Flopsy is _sweet_. Flopsy-Mopsy-Cotton-Tail. It seems just perfect for you!'

'Actually, I'd really prefer Trixie. Thank you all the same. But it's just Trixie'.

'Oh well. If that's what you want, but you'll feel _dreadfully_ left out when the rest of us all have special names. Especially Pat-a-Cake. We've spent the _whooole_ journey coming up with the best name for our Dilly's twinsie and I know she'll be just _thrilled._ Isn't that right Pat-a-Cake?'

'Oh... well, I'm... flattered that you'd spend so much time over it. Really, it's just that-'

'Nonsense, no need to thank us! We should be thanking _you_ for showing us around London! Neenaw was a little worried after all the stories you told us about the East End, but I said no, if Dilly can do it _we_ can do it! It shall be a grand adventure. Besides, we might be a pair of country mice but town mouse Pat-a-Cake has been living in London for _years_ , she'll look after us if any cats come prowling, or mouse traps try to bite us!'

'Exactly, and we're ever and ever so excited about seeing where Dilly lives!'

'Well, then, I suppose we'd better stop standing around here and show you. I'm sure you're both tired after your journey and might appreciate a cup of tea'.

'Oh, I know a splendid little cafe round the corner if you fancy it. It's not far and their scones are simply divine'.

'Yesyesyes! _Do_ lets go there! What a perfectly perfect idea! I think we are going to be the best of friends Flopsy-Trixie!'

'Oh. Goodie.'


End file.
